Quick Synopsis:
The book begins in Ireland in the 1950’s, with the central character Eillis Lacey. Employment opportunities are scarce and Eillis is lucky enough to get a part time job in a shop, albeit for a condescending, rude & ungrateful woman. Almost without involving Eillis in the decision, her family arranges for her to emigrate to New York, and she finds herself leaving her family and country for the first time. When she arrives in Brooklyn she is homesick, but slowly begins to build a life for herself in Brooklyn, until one day she receives a phone call from Ireland which leads to her returning home and facing the dilemma of whether to choose duty or love.
Some reviews of this book:
- Brooklyn moved me more than any other book this year (Nicholas Hytner Observer, Books of the Year )
- A beautifully crafted work that transformed ordinary lives into something extraordinary (Daily Telegraph, Books of the Year )
- No book this year gave me greater pleasure (Nell Freudenberger Financial Times )
After reading the rave reviews above, I was really looking forward to reading this book, and as it is a way of life I consider alien to my own (being only 31, I have not experienced the Ireland that is written about in the book), I was fascinated by the differences between them. There were so many issues within the book, I scarcely know where to begin, so if the following is a bit muddled, please bear with me.
Overall, I was disappointed that although there were so many issues within the book - family relationships, social issues in America, her female supervisor’s lesbianism, the Jewish night school teacher who escaped from WWII concentration camps, duty, love, sacrifice ... I feel that these issues were all very much understated. I appreciate that this is the very thing that others will love about the book, but for me, I wish Toibin had explored them more. At the end of the book I felt that I came away knowing as little about Eillis as I did in the beginning, and perhaps liking her even less.
Eillis seems to be swept along with the flow, fickle, rather than having her own opinions and being a person in her own right. I would have liked to see her get a bit excited about something. I actually feel that I know more about the characters she shared a boarding house with, than Eillis herself. She seemed to make no real effort with the girls in the boarding house, and even with the landlady, she appears less than interested. She is downright rude to the new boarder, and went way down in my estimation after the scene at the dance hall.
Eillis has an uncomfortable experience with her supervisor, but we hear no more about it. She finds out that her teacher has been in the concentration camps, but again we hear nothing else about this character.
Eillis’ relationships with her family members were suggested, rather than hinted at. They love each other, but yet cannot speak openly together, cannot confide in each other, cannot comfort eachother. The relationships she has with the two leading men in the story did not feel passionate or emotional, and at the end of the book I didn’t feel like Eillis was breaking her heart to leave her “one great love”. She only makes her decision in the end because someone forces her hand. Otherwise she’d have dithered on and prolonged the agony.
All in all, the concept of the book is fantastic but it's execution is not to my taste. Whilst Toibin describes things well (the trip over to America is very graphic, and I could feel myself on the ship with Eillis), he loses the definition in the characters, and because he doesn’t engage them, neither did I. It’s not something I’d keep on my bookshelf, but at the same time I’m glad to have read it to see what all the fuss was about.
The other Bookclub Bloggers:
I'm dying to know what the other bloggers thought. If you want to see what the other bloggers have to say about it, here are their links (Please forgive (and correct me) if I have any details wrong:
Lily (Lilly’s blog)Lorna (Garrendenny Lane) Marian (Made Marian)Treasa (Irish Mammy on the run)cathy (Irish Rumbling Strips)Val (Magnum lady)Jenn (SmurfetteJenn’s blog)Edie (Munchies & Musings)Catherine (Dispatches from the Deis)Marie (Diary of an Irish country wife)Kirsty (Kirsty Road )AnnLast of the MojitosWinifriedSusan (Queen of Potts)Una (Justuna)Steph (The Biopsy Report)Paysan June's Book Club Read is 'Let the Great World Spin’ by Colum Mc Cann. Our reviews will be online the first Sunday in June.
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